Here’s a magazine Photoshop controversy that, for once, doesn’t involve egregious airbrushing.
Lance Armstrong is on the cover of the July issue of Outside magazine. And he’s not happy about what they did to him.
Armstrong, currently in Switzerland competing in a Tour de France tune-up, tweeted yesterday:
@lancearmstrong: Just saw cover of the new Outside mag w/(me) on it. Nice photoshop on a plain T guys. That’s some lame bullshit. #weak
Outside Photoshopped “38. BFD.” on Armstrong’s shirt. (They also printed a disclaimer on the cover: “Note: Not Armstrong’s real T-shirt.”)
The "38" refers to Armstrong’s age. “BFD,” I’m told, stands for “big f—ing deal.”
When I first saw the cover, I thought Outside was making a statement about recent doping allegations against Armstrong, and “BFD” was some slang for cycling-specific “PED” or a masking agent. Instead, it appears the editors were just having a little fun with the old timer.
"We wanted to create a provocative image and make a bold statement about the fact that, because of Armstrong’s age, many cycling fans are skeptical of his chances in this year’s Tour de France," the magazine explained in a response to Armstrong posted its Web site.
Big f—ing deal.
